Scholarships to female students will encourage participation in sciences — NGO

MR Olatunji Smith, the Director of VerveHub, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), says awarding scholarships and creating awareness in female students will encourage them to study sciences in the nation’s tertiary institutions.

Smith told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja that government and private bodies should make available more scholarship opportunities to female students to ginger them to study science subjects.

He said “the world has moved to an era where more women have become increasingly prominent in medicine, law and business but there are few women scientists and engineers.

“If encouraged, women and girls will be interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) because females are more disadvantaged than males in schools.

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“Mentorship should also be encouraged; those already working in related fields need to find ways of showing learners, especially young women, the real power of STEM to build a better future. Take them on-site visits, invite them for job shadowing, encourage internships, expose and encourage the development of digital skills.”

The NGO director said older female scientists should do whatever it would take to engage and prepare younger women to adapt to the fourth industrial revolution that the world had found itself.

Smith urged the young female STEM professionals to also put aside the fear that science was a male-dominated field and involve in solving technology problem with platforms such as hackathons, robotics, coding and mining, among others.

He said “the future of our country will also be built on the work of these young females and male engineers, technologists and technicians.

“A well-grounded breed of new engineering talent is imperative to be able to compete on the global front and to liberate our country from underdevelopment.”